The country's foreign exchange reserves exceeded the $38 billion mark for the first time on Tuesday amid a surge in remittance inflow coupled with lower import payments.

Officials of the central bank said that the country's foreign exchange reserves reached $38.15 billion on the day after hitting the $37 billion mark on July 27.

In July, the country achieved a record $2.6 billion in remittance on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha after posting a record $18.21-billion remittance inflow in the fiscal year 2019-2020.

Although the inflow of remittance slowed down slightly in August with the banks fetching $863.10 million in the first two weeks of the month, the flow of remittance was more than enough to fulfill the import payment requirements of the banks.

In an attempt to keep the exchange rate of dollar stable, the central bank has been purchasing the greenback heavily from the local market which has led to the higher reserve of the country, an official of the central bank said.

On the other hand, the country in the fiscal year 20192020 saw a significant decline in import payments due to the coronavirus outbreak which dealt heavy blows to the global economy as well as that of the country.

The country's import payments dropped by 8.56 per cent to $50.69 billion in FY20 from $55.44 billion in FY19.

Although the export earnings dropped by 17.1 per cent to $32.83 billion in FY20, the earnings rebounded in July.

In July of FY21, the country's export earnings increased by 0.59 per cent to $3.91 billion year-on-year.

On top of these, the government’s initiative to issue 2 per cent cash incentive against inward remittance played a key role in the huge inflow of remittance.

Last month, the finance ministry expressed its gratitude to all Bangladeshi migrants living abroad for remitting foreign currency to the country.

The country's foreign exchange reserve has soared by $5 billion since June this year.

The country's foreign exchange reserves reached the $34 billion, $35 billion and $36billion marks in June.